Renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, have become much more popular as people seek alternative energy sources. With the rise in demand, solar products have undergone considerable changes from the traditional, large area solar panels in rigid frames. Solar panels have become smaller, lighter and much more modular.
Some photovoltaic modules now reside on flexible, bendable substrates. Manufacturers that produce flexible solar modules include Unisolar, Global Solar and Konarka. These flexible solar substrates generally consist of thin, stainless steel foil or thin, polymer foil. In addition to photovoltaic modules, these substrates may also include sensors or other electronic modules and circuits. While these substrates have more flexibility and are more bendable than previous substrates, there is still room for improvement.
Some efforts have concentrated on bending more traditional substrates by selectively cutting or notching the substrates to allow them to conform to more three-dimensional shapes. Examples of this approach include U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/017,974, published as US Patent Publication No. 20090184954; and Ser. No. 12/253,390, Published as 20100096729. In the approach discussed in these publications, an electronics circuit and its components are laid out on a flexible circuit substrate. The process then cuts the flexible circuit substrate to allow it to be bent, shaped or molded into a three-dimensional device.
Similarly, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/563,945, “Shaped Active Matrix Displays,” discusses a combination of the cutting for shaping and the lay out of the circuits to allow for perforations to be formed in the substrate, or for the substrate to take a particular shape, such as that of an alphabetic character.
The approach taken in these references, however, involves cutting or perforating the substrate for flexibility and shaping, it does not address stretchability.